


unsteady

by countingpaperstars



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst, Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV, Chronic Pain, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-17 04:22:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13651344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/countingpaperstars/pseuds/countingpaperstars
Summary: when Ignis enters the apartment, he immediately knows it’s one ofthosedays.





	unsteady

**Author's Note:**

> I know it's a little late, but this has been sitting in my drafts for a long while. since it falls under ignoct week I figured I'd clean it up to post. title song is by x ambassadors. other ignoct week fic is [here.](http://archiveofourown.org/works/13602897/chapters/31227822)
> 
> day four: injury

When Ignis enters the apartment, he immediately knows it’s one of _those_ days. There's no light save, from the television playing a sitcom rerun. Quickly he slips out of his shoes in the entryway and sets his grocery bag on the counter before crossing to kneel on the living room floor.

“Noct?” he asks quietly, but gets no reply from where Noctis is curled up on the floor under a heavy blanket. 

He’s awake, eyes glinting in the low lighting as he stares dully ahead at the opposite wall. The laugh of the sitcom audience cuts the silence between them and Ignis hesitates until Noct’s glassy eyes flick up to him. Glad he’s at least responsive, Ignis checks his temperature first, easing his long fringe out of the way to place his hand flat against the smooth skin there. He’s warm, but not unreasonably so, as Ignis cards his hand the rest of the way into his hair. 

“Is it your back?” he asks, already knowing the answer. He moves his hand down to Noct’s shoulder as gently as he can manage, but it still evokes a small sound of pain despite his careful movements. It’s easy to feel how tense he is; how still he’s trying to stay to avoid provoking the ghost of his old injury. Something inside of Ignis cracks, but he holds it together best he can. Right now, Noctis needs him to keep a level head, and so he shall. 

“I know,” he says soothingly as he slides an arm under Noct’s torso. “I know. Easy now, it’s alright.” 

When he’s got an even enough support, Ignis pauses to steel himself. They both know what’s coming and already Noctis is trembling, breaths loud and heavy. He hates it, but he knows it must be done, and so Ignis tenses and pulls Noct up to sit in one swift movement.

He screams and Ignis’ heart shatters.

But it’s over and done and they pause, Noctis panting as sweat runs down his hairline. He’s leaning his full weight against Ignis, who isn’t bothered in the slightest by the damp sticking to his pressed shirt. The hardest part is almost over. After a brief respite, Ignis guides Noct’s arms up and around his neck where they latch on, painfully tight as he tucks his head against the curve of Ignis' throat.

“Almost there,” he murmurs and counts down as he gets a foot planted firmly. 

When he hits three he stands, pulling Noct up along with him, and luckily Ignis hasn’t been skipping out on his strength building sessions and manages it with ease. Standing isn’t as bad for Noctis, with his back straight, and although it still prompts a heartbreaking noise from his prince, it’s nothing near as bad as the first. Again they rest, again Noctis leans bodily against him as he shakes and gasps.

Briefly Ignis wonders how long Noct had been lying there and why he didn’t text him, but a quick glance about the room shows his phone to be on the kitchen table. There would’ve been no way for him to reach it on his own and right away Ignis rearranges his schedules in his mind for him to allow him to drop in earlier, or perhaps more frequently. This is more important than anything else by far.

Walking isn’t an impossible feat, though it is a painful chore and they have to stop a few times for Noct to lean against him before continuing. Eventually they make it to the bathroom alright, and when he’s sure Noctis has the strength to stand alone, Ignis retreats to the main rooms, flipping on lights as he goes and stopping to flick off the TV. In the kitchen he digs for painkillers and fill a glass of water to bring back and passes them over before wrapping a secure arm around Noct’s chest to support him as he pops the pills and chugs the water. When he’s done he leans back into Ignis, head dropped against his shoulder. He’s stopped sweating, but Ignis still takes the time to wet a warm washcloth to wipe his face and hairline with. A shower is out of the question.

Slowly they make it back to the bed and Noctis hesitates, spine rigid in anticipation. “I know,” says Ignis quietly, unable to stop the repetition. He doesn’t _know_ of course, never has he gone through anything remotely similar, but the compassion is there and they’ve done this enough times for him to at least understand empathetically. “Just once more and then you won’t have to again for a while.”

After all, it’s not as if Noctis can stand forever, and he must also realize this because he allows himself to be guided down onto the bed. It’s faster with the help of gravity and over before they know it, Noct propped up on the pillows as he breathes. Ignis runs a comforting hand through his hair again and waits for him to relax, little by little until his eyes close and the tension bleeds from his frame.

With the hardest over and done with, Ignis retreats to the kitchen to begin supper. Going about the motions allows him not to think, but when the broth is mixed and heating on the stove he has to collect the shattered pieces of himself, leaning against the counter and pushing his glasses up to pinch at the bridge of his nose tightly. His job’s not over yet, but despite his best efforts his eyes are damp when he pulls away. Methodically he fills the soup, adding cooked rice and finely minced chicken to the mix. He skimps on the vegetables today. 

As the aroma of the spices he’d added fills the air, he stays busy by sending off a series of texts and emails to rearrange both his and Noct’s schedules for the following day. Their duties and obligations can wait for once – it’s the least Ignis can do, though he desperately wishes it were more. If he could alleviate some of Noctis’ burden to take upon his own shoulders, he would in a heartbeat. But he can't, so he does his best to make it easier.

Startled from his thoughts by the timer, Ignis swiftly silences it and moves to take the pot off the stove, pouring out a serving into a dish and retreating to Noct’s room. He’s dozing when he gets back, still half-sat against the pillows, and the painkillers must have kicked in, because when Ignis wakes him he shifts up to eat. While he does, Ignis sets about refreshing the room to ease his own stress and clear the air. Noctis must be hungry because he finishes quickly, but when Ignis makes to take the bowl from him, he's stopped by a hand on the arm.

“Stay?” Noctis asks, voice as soft as the dim light around them. “Please, Iggy.”

He sounds so much like the young boy Ignis has known his whole life, the one who came back different the night of a daemon attack and again from Tenebrae. It’s to be expected of course when such lingering pain only serves to throw Noctis violently back to that time. Ignis hates it. Not only did he initially have his autonomy taken away, but he also has to annually pay penance to it in a chronic hell of its own. As long as the ripples of its aftermath remain, he can't put it fully in the past, no matter how sparse time may lessen the pain.

Ignis would be a monster to deny him, nor does any inch of him want to. “Of course."

Together they manage to arrange Noctis comfortably enough to lie down and he finishes cleaning up – brings the dish to the kitchen and turns off the lights on his way back. There’s a pair of sweats and a t-shirt set aside for him in the bottom drawer of Noct’s dresser, in the case of such emergencies, and he changes into them and sets about readying for bed. Eventually he flips the room light off, leaving only the one in the bathroom slanted across the floor from the cracked door, and puts his glasses aside to slip under the covers.

Across the valleys and hills of the sheets, Noct’s hand finds his and squeezes tight. He tugs him over and unable to resist, Ignis folds and presses in carefully to wrap an arm around him and settle as close as he can. It’s only then under the cover of the darkness the pent up pain and frustration claw their way out and the first of Noctis’ tears drip down onto Ignis’ collarbones. He doesn’t sob, for fear of jostling the pain, but the force of his emotions leaves him gasping and clutching at Ignis’ shirt. There’s not much to be done but hold him close, stroking along the curve of his back lightly in reassurance.

“Why,” he chokes out and Ignis shushes him soothingly, tucks his nose into Noct’s hair and presses soft words of comfort there.

Eventually Noct drops into a fitful sleep, but Ignis doesn’t relinquish his grip, brushing his tacky fringe from his face. There’s a wrinkle belying discomfort still tucked between his elegant brows, but at least he’s resting, however uneasily. It’s all they can do for now – manage the pain best they can until it passes. If they’re lucky it won’t be more than a day or two, and if not, well... Ignis would rather not relive those memories. It’s only now he cries, tucking his face sideways into the pillows and trying not to shake enough to wake Noctis. There’s a tight band compressed around his lungs and heart, squeezing them until his ribs ache. He shouldn’t cry, it’s not his pain and he has little idea of the reality of it, but here in the dark he lets himself have this moment of weakness. Holding Noctis close, he tucks his nose into his hair and waits for another dawn.

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't have an iggy back when I was fifteen, so I think I wrote this to work on healing old wounds and to have an outlet for what I wish I could've given my younger self. thank you so much for reading <3 and if any of you are dealing with chronic pain, past or present, please know you're not alone.


End file.
